Sea Buckthorn (genus Hippophae) can be used for a variety of purposes including, for example, the unsaturated fatty acids of Sea Buckthorn seed oil to regulate blood lipids, resist angiosclerosis and radiation, restrain tumor cell growth, strengthen immunity, and nourish the skin as described in CN1207920 (1999); the oil from Sea Buckthorn fruits in cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and food products as described in DE4431393 (1996)); the oil extract of Sea Buckthorn for skin care products as described in RU2106859 (1998)); the oil of Sea Buckthorn in cosmetic cream as described by RU2134570 (1999)); an ointment containing Sea Buckthorn (0.5-1.5%) for suppressing caragenin-induced edemas and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in patients with inflammatory and allergic skin damages as described by RU2132183 (1999); an ointment containing Sea Buckthorn oil for treatment of burns and infected injuries as described by RU2129423 (1999); a cosmetic cream containing Sea Buckthorn oil to protect facial skin in winter as described by RU2120272 (1998); and a cream containing Sea Buckthorn oil showing anti-allergic, bactericidal, anti-inflammatory, regenerative activities as described by RU2123320 (1998); and extracts of Sea Buckthorn as a cancer therapies as described by US2005/0214394.
Even though a numerous and wide variety of applications have been described for Sea Buckthorn, these applications do not appear to include compositions or extracts or methods of using compositions or extracts obtained from plants of the genus Hippophae administered to or combined with reproductive cells. A substantial problem with the manipulation of reproductive cells (as defined below) in vitro can be a significant loss of in vivo reproductive cell characteristics such as alteration of the lipid bilayer, alteration of cellular organelles, cell apoptosis, or cell necrosis, or decreased motility of sperm cells.
In particular, sperm cells contain a relative lack of cytosolic antioxidant enzymes, but are redox active cells and generate significant levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during normal cellular events including motility, capacitation, acrosome reaction and sperm-oocyte fusion. See Baker M. and Aitken R. J., “The Importance of Redox Regulated Pathways in Sperm Cell Biology”, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 216:47-54 (2004). Oxidation can be a particularly damaging event because it often initiates a cascade event. For example, exterior oxidation (oxidation of the lipid bilayer surrounding the cell), can result in internal cellular damage via oxidation of the lipid bilayer and production of reactive intermediates that cause oxidation of internal organelle membranes, proteins and DNA. Soberman, R. J., “The Expanding Network of Redox Signaling: New Observations, Complexities, and Perspectives”, The Journal of Clinical Investigation 111(Number 7):571-574 (2003). Reactive intermediates (oxidants), or ROS include superoxide, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxy radial, and singlet oxygen. Interestingly, the function of ROS is dichotomous, for both oxidation and reduction are important in regular cell functioning and signaling. ROS exposure allows cells to initiate maturation events and protective pathways but unfortunately also initiates premature acrosome reactions, apoptosis (cell death) or necrosis when stress and damage becomes too great.
The loss of such in vivo reproductive cell characteristics can result in decreased fertility or decreased viability of the reproductive cells, or both. A decrease in the viability or fertility of reproductive cells can be a significant disadvantage in the context of the preparation, cooling, freezing, cooled or frozen storage, thawing or thawed storage of sperm cells contained in artificial insemination straws (or other containers or vessels), the artificial insemination of animals; the preparation, manipulation, cooling, freezing, cooled or frozen storage, the thawing or thawed storage of oocytes; the in vitro fertilization of oocytes; or the like.
This problem can be further exacerbated in the context of recent advances in the flow analysis or the flow sort of sperm cells to obtain sex selected populations of sperm cells (populations of sperm cells bearing predominantly an X-chromosome or a Y-chromosome). Because flow analyzed or flow sorted sperm cells undergo an increased number of manipulations to stain the nuclear DNA, to flow analyze, flow sort and collect the desired number of sperm cells, the resulting flow sorted sperm cells collected have an increased likelihood of a significant loss of in vivo reproductive cell characteristics.